Book Review -- Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch

I think I'm getting crotchety about books. I find more things in them that bother me than things that I like.
A few weeks ago, I admitted that I'm having problems sticking with a book. I pick one up because I think I'll like it then simply stop reading it. Sometimes I even avoid reading because I don't have a book that enthralls me.
I was determined to stick with Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch by Haywood Smith.
I love the cover, those multi-colored toe nails in front of a fan.
The premise is that Lin, a 50-year-old woman, must return to live at her family home after her husband has an affair with a 20-something stripper and spends them into debt. Her mother is a typical southern matriarch, her father is "the general" who is losing his mental faculties, her adult brother is living at home and going to AA. Her uncle and aunt have moved in after the uncle needed round-the- clock care for his dementia.
A lot of the situations are funny. Some of them are predictable, like the handsome pharmacist who moved home to straighten out his father's affairs and tempts Lin with his maleness. The book deals with fighting stereotypes, like continuing a friendship with a high school pal who has come out as a lesbian. But some of the stereotypes remain, like the corrupt mayor whose campaign is challenged by the former Harley Davidson-rider, alcoholic who has become a pastor.
Some things I liked about this book, Lin took the time to get to know the real people in her family rather than the roles they had played throughout her life.
Some things that bugged me about this book: Lin was supposed to be a 50 year old but she went to high school in the 60s. The numbers just didn't add up. Perhaps the book was written a decade or two ago and is just now getting published. The author should have updated her numbers.
The handsome pharmacist turned on a dime and became a jerk, totally against character with no explanation. That relationship was never resolved.
If I gave starred book reviews, I'd probably say 3 stars for this book with some good Southern situations.

First Chapter, Tuesday Teaser -- Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
I'm still having a hard time finding a book that grabs me. I'm going to try one recommended by anotherblog's  First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday a few weeks ago -- Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch by Haywood Smith.

I took the long way home that fateful midsummer day last July, maybe because I still couldn't quite believe what I was about to do.

I could still hear Miss Mamie -- that's my mother; everybody calls her Miss Mamie, including my brother and me -- telling me, on the eve of my wedding, that if I insisted on marrying Phil at nineteen, I shouldn't even think of turning up on her doorstep again. "You make your bed, you lie in it," she'd said with absolute conviction. (Miss Mamie says everything with absolute conviction.)
 

So traditional southern matriarch. I hope these are characters I fall in love with.

Also this week is Teaser Tuesdays.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Open to a random page of your current read and share a teaser sentence from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.
Here's mine from page 36:

"Now, honey," she said in that same singsong she'd used when I was ten. "You know how you get when you don't have your protein with your carbohydrates. Eleven o'clock and there goes the blood sugar, under the basement. I'll just scramble up a few, shiny, like you've always liked 'em."

What do you think?
Maybe you all will have some suggestions for me.